Sitting of 8 August 1851

THE BALLOT FOR PRECEDENCE.
MR. WAKLEYsaid, that he just observed the Prime Minister place his paper in the glass for balloting. Now he thought it was not right that the First Minister of the Crown should be placed in that position. The noble Lord should either accompany Mr. Speaker, or follow immediately after him. He hoped that that would be the general understanding of the House.
MR. VERNON SMITHsaid, he hoped that would be the general understanding. He should have been perfectly ready to have acquiesced in the proposal which the noble Lord submitted to the Committee, that Mr. Speaker should select four Members to accompany him; the right hon. Gentleman would then have selected the four principal Members in the House, including the leaders on each side, which would have been perfectly satisfactory.
[When, at a subsequent hour, the names were drawn, Lord John Russell's was the 42nd, Mr. Hawes the 114th, Lord Palmerston the 127th.]

IONIAN ISLANDS.
MR. URQUHARTwished to know whether the Government contemplated, during the recess, making any alteration in the

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state of things that now existed in the Ionian Islands?
MR. HAWESsaid, he hardly knew how to answer the hon. Gentlemen, his question had been put in so vague a manner. Her Majesty's Government were quite prepared to consider any grievances that might be complained of, and to redress them.
MR. URQUHARTsaid, there was another question on which he thought he was entitled to a positive answer. In the absence of the noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he had to ask the noble Lord at the head of the Government, whether there was any truth in that report, which appeared to be something more than a rumour, of an intention on the part of the Government to cede these islands to Greece? He expected the noble Lord to contradict that rumour. A speech had recently been made by Sir Henry Ward which gave rise to the rumour. He asked the noble Lord for specific information on this subject, and hoped that the Government did not recognise the statement made by Sir Henry Ward as to the intended surrender of these islands.
LORD JOHN RUSSELL,in reply, said, it was enough to say that there was no truth whatever in the rumour as to the surrender of the Ionian Islands to Greece.
Subject dropped.

INCOME AND PROPERTY TAX COMMITTEE.
MR. WAKLEYsaid, that the division which had taken place on the preceding evening upon the Motion of his hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) for printing the evidence taken before the Income Tax Committee, had ended in so unexpected and unsatisfactory a manner, that he felt himself called upon to renew the Motion. He should therefore move, that the evidence taken by the Income Tax Committee be laid upon the table of the House and printed. He thought it his duty to take the sense of the House upon this Motion, because he understood that evidence of great importance had been laid before the Committee, and he was quite sure that the additional evidence which would be adduced when the Committee met next Session would make a blue book of such enormous size that no one would be able to digest it (whatever their appetite) in time for legislation during the Session.
LORD JOHN RUSSELLsaid, that though he was not a Member of the
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Income and Property Tax Committee, yet he was informed that the Committee had decided by a majority of seven to four against the publishing of the evidence in an incomplete manner, that evidence bearing upon two different questions, neither of which was closed by the Committee. He hoped, therefore, that the subject would be allowed to stand over until the next Session of Parliament.
MR. HUMEconsidered there was no one question of so much interest to the people as the manner in which taxes were raised. The taxes in this country were most unequally distributed. The poor were heavily oppressed, whilst the rich were permitted to escape. Those who prevented the evidence being printed, were those who were opposed to the principle of direct taxation; and they were aided by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who maintained that no amendment could be made in the present mode of collecting the Income Tax. He could not understand upon what ground the noble Lord at the head of the Government was opposed to the printing of the evidence that had been already taken.
MR. J. WILSONsaid, that the Committee had been unable to proceed, in consequence of the illness of the chairman (Mr. Hume) in the midst of the first branch of the inquiry.
MR. HENLEYhoped that, as a Member of the Committee, the House would be disposed to listen to him, especially as he had given no vote on the occasion when the Committee decided against printing the evidence. Owing to the temporary illness of their chairman (Mr. Hume), the honour had been conferred upon him of placing him in the chair. There were two branches of inquiry before the Committee—one was as to the mode of collecting the tax; and there were several valuable witnesses on that point, summoned from Birmingham and Manchester; but these gentlemen were unable readily to get such information as would render them capable of answering the questions which the Committee desired to put to them. They had not arrived in town when the Committee determined upon closing their labours for the Session. That was one reason that induced the Committee to decide against publishing the evidence. Another reason that led the Committee to the same conclusion was, that some hon. Members of the Committee requested that some gentlemen who were here from the United

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States, who had come to visit the Exhibition, and who were competent to give evidence as to the mode of taxing property in the United States, should be examined. The Committee, to suit the convenience of these gentlemen, went out of its way, and heard their evidence. There were, he thought, two gentlemen examined. This was a new branch of inquiry, and consequently opened a new branch of the subject. It was the consideration of these circumstances that led the Committee to decide against the publication of the evidence; and for that decision he would have given his vote if he had had the opportunity of doing so, because he felt it would be only throwing dust in the eyes of the public if the evidence were given in the imperfect form in which it had been collected.
MR. J. L. RICARDOsaid, that the public were as well able to judge upon the matter of evidence as the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Henley). The public, he believed, would attach much more value to the evidence if it were now withheld from them, than it possibly might deserve. He did not think that evidence of any great importance in its present imperfect condition; but they might be sure that the public would conclude that there was something in it which the Government did not wish to publish, and in that case the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer would find, in proposing his Budget next year, a greater difficulty in obtaining the Income Tax. He hoped the Government would reconsider this matter, as no evil could follow from publishing the evidence, and much evil might be the consequence of withholding it.
Motion made, and Question put, "That the Minutes of Evidence taken before the Committee be laid before this House."
The House divided:—Ayes 50; Noes 62: Majority 12.

THE PROTESTANT CHURCH AT ROME AND IN SPAIN.
SIR ROBERT H. INGLISwished to ask the noble Secretary for Foreign Affairs several questions of which he had given him notice. He begged first to ask whether, in the event of the members of the Church of England being disposed—as it was said they were—to erect a church in Rome, Her Majesty's Government were prepared to give the Consular protection to such church? Also, whether the Government had heard of any application which had been made to the Spanish
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Government for a Protestant burial place in Madrid; and, if so, whether the grant of such Protestant burial ground had been accompanied by such conditions as were unfit for a civilised nation to impose, and as it would be unbecoming Her Majesty's Government to accept? He wished further to ask, whether the Government were prepared to lay on the table the papers relating to the case of Captain Pakenham, who was exiled from Florence as a Protestant, and of Mr. Healey, a Protestant, who had been compelled to leave Rome?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONwould first reply to the two last questions put by the hon. Baronet. There was a correspondence now going on between Her Majesty's Government and the Governments of Rome and Florence with regard to the cases of Mr. Healey and Captain Pakenham; but as that correspondence was still in progress, he should not feel it consistent with his duty to lay any part of it upon the table. With regard to the first question of the hon. Baronet relative to the Consular Act, wherever there was a Consul or Vice-Consul of this country, the Secretary of State was empowered, on the application of the British inhabitants, to extend to them the benefits of that Act, which consisted in this—that a chaplain might be appointed, whose salary should be provided for, in the first place, by the subscriptions of the resident community, the Secretary of State being empowered to give a sum equal to that subscribed from the money voted for Consular services. The British residents at Rome had had a chapel for some time—[Sir R. INGLIS: A granary]—and if they applied to be allowed to place themselves under the provisions of the Consular Act, he was not aware of any reason why their application should be refused. Of course, it must be understood that that Act did not enable Her Majesty's Government to exercise any authority with regard to such chapels other than might be consistent with the laws of the country in which they were established, With respect to the burial ground at Madrid, by the ancient treaties between this country and Spain, British subjects in Spain were entitled to construct burial grounds. A long correspondence had taken place with regard to a burial ground which for some time past the English residents had had at Madrid, but which was too near the centre of the city to be in conformity with the recent laws for extramural interments adopted by the Government of Spain.

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The British Government had been in correspondence with the Government of Spain on the subject of changing their burial ground for a now one, and they had at last gained the necessary permission for that purpose; but he was sorry to say, that that permission had undoubtedly been accompanied by conditions which were represented by the Spanish Government as arising out of the laws of Spain in regard to religious opinions, but which Her Majesty's Government had learned with considerable pain and regret. He had promised his hon. Friend (Sir R. Inglis) that he would lay on the table such part of that correspondence as he thought might be interesting to the House, and he now begged to present it.
MR. BAILLIE COCHRANEbegged to inquire who was now the official organ of communication at Rome for Her Majesty's Government? Was it Mr. Petre or Mr. Freeborn? Was Mr. Consul Freeborn the recognised organ of our Government?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTON,in reply, said, that Mr. Petre was attached to the mission at Florence, and held a diplomatic character, which was not abated by the circumstance of the vacancy in the Florentine mission. He was therefore the diplomatic organ. Mr. Freeborn, the Consul, was organ for all matters pertaining to the
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Consular department; and, in the absence of Mr. Petre on leave, Mr. Freeborn would be the natural and only organ of communication.
SIR ROBERT H. INGLISwished to know whether the sanction of Her Majesty's Government had been given to an ordinance of the Government of Malta, referring to the Church of Rome as the dominant reliligion in that island?
MR. HAWESwas understood to state, that the ordinance was not yet law, that it had not officially reached the Secretary of State, and that there were certain alterations of the penal code proposed, some of which Her Majesty's Government could not approve of.
Subject dropped.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
Message to attend HER MAJESTY; the House went, when the Royal Assent was given to several Bills.
After which HER MAJESTY was pleased to make a most gracious Speech from the Throne to both Houses of Parliament.
Then the LORD CHANCELLOR declared Her Majesty's Royal Will and Pleasure that this Parliament he prorogued to Thursday the 4th day of September next.
The House separated at twenty minutes to Three o'clock.

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS.—ROYAL ASSENT.—Consolidated Fund (Appropriation); Merchant Seamen's Fund; Episcopal and Capitular Estates Management (No. 2); St. Albans Bribery Commission; Poor Relief Act Continuance; General Board of Health (No. 3): Coal Duties (London and Westminster and adjacent Counties).

PROTESTANT WORSHIP IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
The EARL of SHAFTESBURYmoved—
"That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that Her Majesty will be graciously pleased to direct that a Circular shall be addressed to the several Ministers of Her Majesty at Foreign Courts, and also to the Consuls where they discharge diplomatic Functions, instructing them to report on the Facilities which are offered in the several Countries in which they reside for the Erection of Protestant Chapels, and for the Formation and Regulation of Protestant Burial Grounds; and also on the Laws which prevail in the several Countries where the Roman Catholic Religion is established, touching the exercise of that Protestant Religion."
On Question, agreed to; and Ordered accordingly.

PROROGATION OF THE PARLIAMENT.
This being the day appointed for the Prorogation of the Parliament by THE QUEEN in Person, HER MAJESTY entered the House soon after Two o'clock, accompanied by the Prince Albert, and attended by the Great Officers of State.
THE QUEEN, being seated on the Throne, and the Commons (who were sent for) being come, with their Speaker,
MR. SPEAKERmade the following Speech to HER MAJESTY:—
"MOST GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN,
"We, Your Majesty's faithful Commons, attend Your Majesty at the close of a laborious Session; and, in tendering to Your Majesty our last Bill of Supply for the Service of the Year, we have the satisfaction of stating to Your Majesty, that owing to the continued blessings of peace which Providence has vouchsafed to us, and the commercial and manufacturing prosperity of the country, the revenue has

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so far improved as to enable us to make a considerable reduction in the public burdens. We have substituted a moderate duty on houses for the tax hitherto levied on windows, and we have thus carried into still further effect the work of sanitary reform, which has distinguished the legislation of former Sessions. Our attention has also been directed to various measures for the improved administration of justice. We have modified the law of evidence so as to secure a more complete and satisfactory investigation of truth; we have simplified many of the details both of criminal and civil procedure; and we confidently hope that the important addition we have made to the judicial establishment will so far facilitate the appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, as also the Judicial Committee of Your Majesty's Privy Council, that the expenses and delays which have hitherto been inseparable from their proceedings, will, for the future, be materially diminished. The assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles conferred by a foreign Power has been to us a subject of much anxious and patient deliberation. We approached this difficult and delicate question in the spirit in which Your Majesty was graciously pleased to recommend it to our attention; and we trust that the measure which we have passed may be found effectual to prevent any further attempt to encroach on Your Majesty's supremacy, without in any degree infringing on the great principle of religious liberty. It is unnecessary for me to advert to other measures of minor importance, but exerting a material influence on the condition of the industrious classes, which have been matured during the present Session. When carefully reviewed, they will manifest our earnest desire to preserve the prerogatives of the Crown, and at the same time to promote the social improvement as well as the moral and physical welfare of all classes of Your Majesty's subjects. I have now humbly to pray Your Majesty's Royal Assent to the Bill entitled 'An Act to apply a Sum out of the Consolidated
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Fund to the Service of the Year,' and to appropriate the supplies we have granted in the present Session of Parliament."
And Mr. SPEAKER delivered the Money Bill to the clerk. The Royal Assent was then pronounced to several Bills.
HER MAJESTYwas then pleased to make a most Gracious Speech to both Houses of Parliament, as follows:—
"My Lords, and Gentlemen,
"I AM glad to be able to release you from your Attendance in Parliament, and I thank you for the Diligence with which you have performed your laborious Duties.
"I CONTINUE to maintain the most friendly Relations with Foreign Powers.
"I AM happy to be able to congratulate you on the very considerable Diminution which has taken place in the African and Brazilian Slave Trade. The Exertions of My Squadrons on the Coasts of Africa and Brazil, assisted by the Vigilance of the Cruizers of France and of the United States, and aided by the Co-operation of the Brazilian Government, have mainly contributed to this Result.
"Gentlemen of the House of Commons,
"I THANK you for the Readiness with which you have granted the Supplies necessary for the Service of the Year.
"My Lords, and Gentlemen,
"IT is satisfactory to observe, that, notwithstanding very large Reductions of Taxes the Revenue for the past Year considerably exceeded the Public Expenditure for the same Period.
"I AM rejoiced to find that you have thereby been enabled to relieve My People from an Impost which restricted the Enjoyment of Light and

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Air in their Dwellings. I trust that this Enactment, with others to which your Attention has been and will be directed, will contribute to the Health and Comfort of My Subjects.
"I THANK you for the Assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to the Consideration of a Measure framed for the Purpose of checking the undue Assumption of Ecclesiastical Titles conferred by a Foreign Power.
"IT gives Me the highest Satisfaction to find that, while repelling unfounded Claims, you have maintained inviolate the great Principles of Religious Liberty so happily established among us.
"THE Attention you have bestowed on the Administration of Justice in the Courts of Law and Equity will, I trust, prove beneficial, and lead to further Improvements.
"I HAVE willingly given My Consent to a Bill relating to the Administration of the Land Revenues of the Crown, which will, I hope, conduce to the better Management of that Department, and at the same Time tend to the Promotion of Works of Public Utility.
"IT has been very gratifying to Me, on an Occasion which has brought many Foreigners to this Country, to observe the Spirit of Kindness and Goodwill which so generally prevailed.
"IT is My anxious Desire to promote among Nations the Cultivation of all those Arts which are fostered by Peace, and which in their Turn contribute to maintain the Peace of the World.
"IN closing the present Session it is with Feelings of Gratitude to Almighty God that I acknowledge the general Spirit of Loyalty and willing
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Obedience to the Law which animates My People. Such a Spirit is the best Security at once for the Progress and the Stability of our free and happy Institutions."
Then the LORD CHANCELLOR, by Her Majesty's Command, said—
"My Lords, and Gentlemen,
"It is Her Majesty's Royal Will and Pleasure, that this Parliament be prorogued to Thursday the 4th day of September next, to be then here holden; and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Thursday the 4th day of September next."
HER MAJESTYand Prince Albert, attended by the Officers of State, as before, then retired, and the rest of the assembly immediately dispersed.